260 SENECA FICTION, LEGENDS, AND MYTHS 



After this adventure the young men continued to hunt. While 

 one of them was out he met a man, who said to him, " Come with me." 

 Going with him, he found that the stranger was one of the Gadjiqsa 

 people. The old man who had told him how to kill the great bear 

 had said : " You have saved all the people ; after killing you the 

 bear would have killed us and would have gone to your village and 

 destroyed everybody. Hawenniyo has given us power to aid men; 

 it is my wish that you and your people should prosper. If this bear 

 had destroyed you, he would have destroyed all the people in the 

 world. If I had not told you, we should all be dead now. It is for 

 you to thank us, as well as for us to thank you." He added : " But 

 there is another enemy to conquer. When you leave your present 

 camp you will go on until you come to a river. There you will camp 

 again, but be on your guard as you travel." 



The young men soon set out again. When they reached the river 

 they put up a little lodge. As one was building a fire the other went 

 to look for game. The man making the fire could hear someone talk- 

 ing very loud, as though making a speech. Going in the direction of 

 the sound, when he came near he saw the speaker in a valley below 

 the hill. He looked cautiously, so as not to be seen by those below. 

 There were many people. In the center on an elevated place stood 

 the speaker, who said: "Tomorrow we start on the trail leading to 

 the place from which the two men have come. At the journey's end 

 we shall have a great feast." The man on the hill listening under- 

 stood that these people were Stone Coats"* and that they were going 

 to his village to eat all the inhabitants; he drew back, frightened at 

 the great number of them. Scattering the brands of the fire, he put 

 it out. When his friend, on coming back, asked why he had no fire 

 he said : " Do not talk so loud. There are many people down under 

 the hill; they are Stone Coats, who intend to destroy qs. We must 

 get out of their way." Peeping over the hills, the hunter was so 

 frightened that he said, " We must hurry home," whereupon, making 

 a start, they went as far as they could that night. Soon they heard 

 the soimd of the approach of the Stone Coats — the noise was like 

 thunder. It was evident that they traveled faster than the two men, 

 for when they camped that night the men were but a short distance 

 ahead of them. The chief of the Stone Coats said, " Tomorrow we 

 must be at the village." One of the men said, " Run with all speed 

 and tell the people what is coming." The other, hastening to the 

 village, said, " The Stone Coats are coming and you shall surely die, 

 but do not die without a struggle." Returning, he reached his com- 

 rade that day, so fast could he run. The comrade said, " I shall stay 

 near the Stone Coats, stopping when they stop. They have but one 

 more halting place, and at each place they hunt." That night the 

 Stone Coats' chief said, " No one must go far; if he does and is away, 

 he will lose his share of the feast." The two men were listening and 



